The New Student's Reference Work/Gowan, Hon. James Robert

Gow′an, Hon. James Robert, a senator of the Dominion, was born in Ireland in 1815 and came to Canada in 1832. After serving as a volunteer in the rebellion of 1837 he was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1838, and appointed judge in 1843, retiring from the bench in 1883. He was appointed chairman of the board of judges in 1884 and a senator the year following. He introduced the present mode of procedure in divorce cases in the senate, and has been president of its divorce tribunal since 1889, making now 56 years of judicial service. In addition he has taken an important part in the revision and codification of the laws of the Dominion.